The three Team Skull grunts didn’t hesitate for a second when they reached their Poké Balls and threw them into the air. Flashlights typical from these devices fell onto the ground, revealing three Pokémon: a blue bat named Zubat, a black lizard named Salandit and what could only be described as a pile of garbage with a plastic bag acting as its face named Garbodor. Just like their trainers, those three Pokémon were ready to pick a fight, all in position to attack. Responding to their threat, Kiawe walked ahead and threw his Poké Ball, revealing his partner Turtonator, also ready to defeat its rivals.

Everybody else didn’t know what to do, especially Selene. Kiawe was far more experienced in battles than the other kids, but three versus one was obviously an unfair match, leaving Turtonator at a disadvantage. Selene had been practicing some battles at school, but joining a real battle was on a whole new level, thinking that she would be a burden for Kiawe. While she was analyzing the situation, she felt her Poké Ball in her waist shaking. Before she could do anything about it, it opened, liberating a ray of light from it and making Jagi appear by her side. The little dragon Pokémon walked forward, joining the gigantic turtle in the battle and surprising Selene.

“Wait, Jagi. You wanna fight?”.

The little Jagi turned around and barked with enthusiasm. “We can do it”. Somehow, the Pokémon’s feelings got through Selene’s heart, dissipating her previous nervousness. She looked at her rivals. Sure, they were many, but they didn’t seem excessively strong. And with Turtonator and Kiawe by her side, she could act as a support for them instead of taking the lead. With that newfound conviction, Selene walked next to Kiawe, who looked at her with slight concern.

“Are you sure?”, asked Kiawe, making Selene giggle.

“Well, I can’t say ‘no’ to her”, joked Selene while looking at Jagi. “So you better don’t look down on us. Girls can take a fight as well!”.

Selene’s snarky comment made Kiawe show a slight smile on his face. They had never fought together, but he knew from school that his classmate was not that bad at fighting. With nothing else to say, all contenders from both sides were ready… and the battle began.

Salandit was the first one to move ahead, swiftly dashing towards Turtonator and jumping on it. However, the big turtle turned around, showing its spiky shell. The moment the lizard touched on of those spikes, a big explosion sent it back flying. In the meanwhile, Zubat was flying on top of the turtle, ready to attack, but it didn’t count with Jagi, who was hidden behind her partner. When Zubat stopped moving, preparing its move, the dragon Pokémon jumped towards it and bit its body, making them both fall on the ground. Salandit stood up again, but Garbodor walked ahead and raised one of its hands, shooting viscous purple balls towards Turtonator and Jagi. The big turtle noticed in time to release a powerful Flamethrower to stop them, causing a big smokescreen that Jagi used to rushed ahead and hit Garbodor with her head. Maybe Jagi wasn’t as strong as her partner, but their teamwork was far better than that of Team Skull, who did nothing else but complain to each other.

The battle went on for a while, and even though Selene and Kiawe had the advantage, it was not enough to fully defeat Team Skull. Kiawe was frustrated, holding his Z-Ring in his wrist. He wanted to use his Z-Move and claim victory, but he didn’t want to cause any damage to the ruins with such a devastating attack. Selene could perceive the dilemma, but she wasn’t sure what the right path of action could be. The grunts noticed their worry as well and began mocking Kiawe, which only added to his frustration. Suddenly, the girl noticed something. A distant sound, like some grumbling but much stronger. Like rain sound. She looked up to the sky, but it was completely clear.

“Hey, what happens?”, asked Kiawe noticing her friend’s reaction. “Focus on the battle”.

“Didn’t you hear a… thunder?”, asked Selene.

There it was again, that sound. And this time, Kiawe, Kukui and the other kids heard it as well, making them all look up to the sky. There wasn’t a single cloud and the sun was shining brightly. There weren’t any signs of rain. But that thunder, it became stronger and louder by the second. Even Team Skull looked worried, but nobody knew what to do. Should they go back to the battle? Maybe hide somewhere?

There weren’t given any choice though.

Without a prior notice, a huge lighting fell from the sky, so bright that nobody could see a thing. When it dissipated, Garbodor, Zubat and Salandit lied on the ground, completely defeated and unconscious. Everybody was shocked at the scene, especially their owners, who were lost of words. Nobody knew where that lighting came from and why it specifically hit those Pokémon. However, their questions were quickly answer when a mysterious figure popped up between both bands.

A strange-looking wooden yellow shell, shaped like a head, with a crest on top of it, was floating midair, slowly bouncing up and down. Its colors were so bright, in contrast with the black marks that displayed some kind of runes on its body. It looked really similar to the strange figure in her dreams and the pictures from the book.

“The… Guardian… Tapu Koko”, murmured Lana in the back.

Then, the shell opened, revealing a slim black figure with a round head and long arms that were connected to the shell. Selene could only see its back, but the Team Skull grunts crossed sight with that creature, making them shiver. As fast as they could, they all grabbed their Pokémon and ran away deep into the forest. Now that they were gone, only Selene’s group and the Guardian remained in such a place. Tapu Koko slowly turned around, revealing its face and huge colorful eyes to the children and the professor. There was something around it, an aura that instilled respect. Selene could see the Pokémon analyzing everybody with its eyes… until their eyes met.

She could see it. During that time, Tapu Koko kept a solemn look in its eyes. But the moment Selene and the Pokémon looked at each other, she saw it, how its eyes opened a bit more than normal and shone brightly. It was as if it was taken by surprise, as if…

“You… you know me”, murmured Selene.

The girl was convinced of that. Somehow, she could remember those very same eyes looking at her at some point in her life. But especially, she was sure the Pokémon recognized her at that very brief moment. And its reaction, jumping back slightly after the girl said those words, only added to her suspicions. Everybody looked at the girl and then at the Pokémon, not knowing what to do or say, finding it strange that those two could know each other. It felt like time itself stopped moving at all, waiting for one of them to do something. And the first one to act was Tapu Koko, who flew away into the forest.

“Hey, stop right there!”.

Selene screamed and began running after Tapu Koko, followed by Jagi. She could hear everybody’s screams while they tried to follow her, but at that moment, the girl could only think about chasing the Pokémon before it ran away. She and Jagi had to jump over rocks and trunks in the middle of the jungle, with no path they could easily walk through. Selene could still see the Guardian between the trees, but it was getting hard to reach it. The area opened up at one point, where Tapu Koko stopped moving, still floating in the air. The girl could finally stop and catch her breath.

“You… you know me… right?”, asked Selene while gasping.

The Pokémon remained still, showing its back to Selene. Was it ignoring her? If so, why did it stop moving? The girl wasn’t sure what the Guardian was planning to do, but that was her chance.

“Please… tell me… what happened to me? How did I get here? Why can’t I remember my past?”.

She didn’t know if the Guardian could actually understand her questions or not, but there was nothing else in her mind but those doubts. The only thing she seemed sure about was that Pokémon had the answers she was looking for and all she could do was begging for them, even to a creature she couldn’t actually understand. Or so she thought. In a second, Tapu Koko rushed towards Selene, face to face, so close she could touch it if she tried. And then…

“Never get close to me. We were not supposed to meet again”.

Selene could hear it, but at the same time, she couldn’t. The Pokémon didn’t actually say anything, but she perceived that voice in her mind, as clearly as if someone was whispering to her in her ears. It was a voice, but… was it Tapu Koko’s? In some way, just by looking at its serious eyes, she knew that voice was coming from it. But then… why?

“Why? What do you mean?”, asked Selene nervously.

The girl couldn’t understand what the Pokémon meant. Was it a threat? It didn’t actually seemed so. Maybe an advice? Or maybe was it scolding her for chasing it? She didn’t know what else to say, but it seemed Tapu Koko didn’t have any intentions to say anything else. Then, some rustles sounded behind them, with Kukui and her friends appearing a few seconds later. Nobody said anything though, shocked at finding their friend and the Guardian in front of each other. Selene looked at the group for a second. That brief distraction was Tapu Koko’s chance to fly away into the sky. It was so fast that nobody had the chance to stop it. The only thing Selene and her friends could do was seeing how it turned smaller by the second until it vanished in the openness of the blue sky.

Everybody apologized to Selene for ruining her chance to be with the Guardian, but the girl knew it was not their fault. She knew very well the Pokémon wasn’t willing to tell her anything else. Everybody found that strange, so Selene proceeded to tell them what had just happened, shocking all the children. How could it be that Tapu Koko could actually talk? However, Professor Kukui explained that the Guardians were quite powerful, so it wouldn’t be strange if they could communicate telepathically. Knowing there was nothing else to do at such a place, the group began their journey back while thinking about Selene’s encounter with the Guardian.

“Well, it seems Tapu Koko didn’t want to see anybody”, commented Sophocles. “Maybe it was in a bad mood, with Team Skull causing all that trouble”.

“Still, if it knew Selene, it could have been nicer to her, right?”, complained Lana. “Telling her to go away was quite mean”.

“I mean, it’s my first time seeing a Guardian, but it didn’t feel like it was his normal behavior”, added Mallow.

Selene remained silent all that time, carefully listening about all those possibilities. It sure was a strange meeting and she didn’t know what to take from it. On his part, Kiawe looked concerned. He had some reservations about the incident, so instead of giving his opinion, he turned to Selene and asked:

“Say, Selene… Are you sure the Guardian recognized you?”.

The group stopped walking and looked at Kiawe. Selene was taken by surprised and didn’t know how to answer her friend’s question. Kiawe could see the girl becoming sadder, knowing his question could sound like he was attacking her, so he tried to reorganize his thoughts.

“I don’t mean you lied. Just… It really felt the Guardian didn’t know you at all. They are supposed to help Pokémon and humans. If it knew something about you, he’d have told you. So maybe… you got it confused? Maybe your dream was nothing more than a dream?”.

Could that be? Maybe Selene was so excited about meeting the Pokémon and getting her memories back that she misinterpreted the signs? Maybe Tapu Koko didn’t actually know anything about her. She had considered that possibility, but still, there was something inside telling her they had met before.

“Maybe you’re right”, finally said Selene with sad tone. “Maybe that was just a dream and I never met the Guardians, but…”.

Lillie, who had remained silent the whole time, stared at her friend. Contrary to Kiawe’s beliefs, she felt Selene was not lying, that there had to be more about that whole situation. And especially, she knew Selene was right about the Guardian’s behavior. She gracefully put a hand on Selene’s shoulder and asked:

“What are you thinking about?”.

Selene turned around and looked at Lillie. Her graceful smile made her feel calm again. Even with all her doubts and thoughts, even with all those questions, having them all around her at that situation felt reassuring. She knew Kiawe didn’t mean ill. Instead, Selene felt their trust was strong enough that they could tell her their opinions and doubts and that she could open up as well.

“It’s just what Tapu Koko said. ‘We were not supposed to meet again’”, repeated Selene. “Why would it say that? Why did it stop to tell me that instead of just leaving me behind? I don’t know, just…”.

It was getting hard to think. Her head hurt, her body ached… Exhaustion was finally hitting her, but she was not the only one. Everybody felt tired after such an adventure.

“Well, it’s been a long day, ya know? Why don’t we call it a day?”, proposed Kukui. “Maybe sleeping on it will help us have a clear vision on all these things. We can grab dinner on the way back!”.

On the premise of having a full meal after such a long day, the group continued their way back to Hau’oli City with their usual cheerfulness. However, the recent events were still fresh on Selene’s mind. She still didn’t know what had happened and maybe there weren’t any answers at the end of the path she was trying to follow. She looked around her. Lillie, Mallow, Lana, Sophocles, Kiawe and Kukui… They were important for her and all she wanted at that moment was going together with them and have a fun meal. Was it right to focus on that? She didn’t know, but all she wanted was enjoy her present and not think about her past. It might be good to do that sometimes. That’s what she thought while walking along her friends and thinking about what she could eat that night.